Set in Stone
by AutumnCadenza
Summary: Because even if they didn't walk the same earth anymore, there was something that made her presence still there with him. Rivetra oneshot collection. Currently taking prompts
1. Chapter 1

**Silent Vows**

"So where do you want to go, Heichou?" Petra asked. She took her captain's hand in her own smaller one. "Do you want to get something to eat?"

He couldn't understand how she could be so happy. Just two weeks ago, they had taken part in yet another unsuccessful expedition. Another group of soldiers who probably didn't even die with any purpose other than to become Titan food. Despite that, Erwin had decided to let Levi as well as all the other soldiers take a day off and visit their families. Much to his annoyance, as Levi didn't exactly have anyone to visit within the walls. The closest thing he had to a family was his squad, who had their own families to take care of. Eld was going to visit his fiancée, Gunther his parents, and Oluo his siblings.

Petra had offered to spend some time with Levi around the Trost marketplace. She mentioned something about her father being out of town for business and being unable to see her as of now.

In fact, he was amazed at how she could be so cheerful in general. Petra had seen the same terrible things Levi had. Her eyes have witnessed civilians getting eaten alive, then getting thrown up. She'd seen her fellow soldiers break down to the point where they would kill themselves to avoid getting devoured by Titans. She had experienced the scorn of the ungrateful people in the inner walls who just saw her as a waste of tax money. The horrors of war were no stranger to Petra Ral. And yet her eyes contained an innocent mirth that Levi had never seen before. And yet here they were, walking along the streets of the marketplace like a young coupl—

He stopped at that thought. Just what exactly were he and Petra? Were they really just commander and subordinate? Would a commander and subordinate be seen together hand in hand in the marketplace? He thought about how she asked him if he wanted to spend their day off together and how nervous she looked when asking him. And the look of relief she appeared to have when he said yes. And how they were holding hands... _Was this a date?_

"Hm? Heichou? Are you okay?" Bright blue eyes looked at him inquisitively, the same eyes that have seen the cruelties of this world they lived in. She gently squeezed her captain's hand.

"Fine," he gruffly replied, maybe a little too quickly as he averted his gaze away from her. Petra's expression faltered slightly, a small frown now on her face. He felt the need to apologize, but couldn't bring himself to say it. It was not long, however, until she quickly reverted to her former cheerful demeanor and led him along the bustling streets.

It was the first time that he had seen her in civilian clothing. She wasn't dressed in a way that was particularly special, but the fact that she was wearing attire meant for a woman and not that of a soldier (not that she didn't look good in her uniform) was just something the captain could not overlook. She wore a plain white blouse paired with a long olive green skirt that swayed back and forth as she walked. A red scarf was draped around her neck to protect her from the cool autumn day (she had insisted that Levi wear one as well to keep warm). Her blonde hair was starting to grow past her shoulders and was held back with a thin black headband adorned with a small white bow, only adding to her more feminine appearance. Not that he noticed or anything.

"Heichou, look!" she said, with a look of awe in her eyes. The woman tugged at her captain's arm and pointed at one of the display windows. Levi looked up to see what was making her so amazed and his own eyes almost widened at the sight.

In front of them was a mannequin displaying what appeared to Levi to be a white wedding dress. An intricate weave of lace flowers was embroidered into the skirt of the dress and tiny beads dotted its hem like dewdrops. On top of the mannequin laid a tulle veil adorned with pearls. Petra stood in marvel, unable to keep her eyes off the dress. "It's so pretty," she murmured, a twinge of longing in her voice.

She then looked at her much plainer clothes and sighed. Levi couldn't help but look at her with some sympathy (which looked more like his usual annoyed expression than a look of sympathy). Noticing her commander's odd look at her, Petra laughed abashedly.

"Sorry, Heichou," she apologized. "You probably aren't interested in this kind of stuff, huh?"

"I didn't know you were," he replied.

"Well, it just seems like it would be nice, you know?" she said. "To devote yourself to someone who's just as much devoted to you. To love someone that much..." She smiled sheepishly. "I know that's not how it always works, but I used to imagine it happening to me."

"And what about now? Do you still want to get married?" he asked.

"What? That's a strange question..."

"So do you?"

"Even if I did I'm a soldier so that kind of stuff won't end up well for me..."

"Eld's married," he argued. He stopped and furrowed his eyes. Why was it so important to him to know if she wanted to get married or not? Her response wasn't unusual or offensive. But still, there was something about her avoidance of the question that made him annoyed.

"I suppose it would be nice to get married though..." Petra admitted. She was fiddling with a lock of her hair and her face turned a rosy shade of pink. "You know, before I die and all."

Levi let go of his subordinate's hand.

"H-Heichou? What is it?" she asked. "Are you okay?" He pulled off his white scarf and awkwardly tucked it into Petra's headband. Her eyes widened in shock. There was a moment of silence between the captain and his subordinate.

"It's a veil..." he mumbled, still not making eye contact with her. "You don't have to if you want. But I wouldn't have a problem with it if you do..." He didn't say anything else, but she didn't have to hear anything else.

"Heichou, you idiot," she whispered. She wrapped her arms around her captain's neck and embraced him. Tears stained Levi's shirt, but he wasn't bothered about it at all.

He wrapped his own arms around her, a silent promise of devotion. There were no words that needed to be exchanged. They stayed like that for a while, wishing that this cruel reality could be frozen only to be replaced with this moment of happiness.

* * *

><p>He set down the bouquet of blue forget-me-nots on the ground and knelt down, ignoring the mud that splotched his pants. Rain poured down on his back relentlessly, but he refused to budge.<p>

He found his choice in flowers ironic, because as much as he tried to remember everything about her, he found himself forgetting the smallest things about her, like what her favorite color was, or how her coffee tasted. And sometimes it would take a while to remember what she sounded like when she laughed. And it killed him every time he found himself unable to remember something about her.

"Hey, it's been a while," he murmured. No answer, just the splash of rain and the howling wind.

"The Yeager brat's been getting harder to take care of now. Complains that there's better ways to discipline someone than breaking their bones. I think you spoiled him too much." She didn't protest or defend herself like she usually did.

"You should really see what shit they serve for food now in the dining hall. Coffee tastes like crap. Wouldn't be surprised if it was made of it."

Levi felt something wet fall down his face, and something told him that it wasn't just the rain.

He dug through his pocket, and took out a plain gold ring. "I was planning to give this to you to make up for my crappy excuse of a proposal back then. Didn't expect you to..." He tried to finish the sentence, but his words came out too choked up to understand_._

"I'm sorry..." he finally whispered. Levi felt a pair of arms around him, a somehow familiar feeling.

"_Heichou_," a voice whispered. "Thank you for everything." He recognized that voice. It was the voice that ran through his dreams every night.

"Pe-Petra..." He held one of the arms that was embracing him. _No... it can't be..._

Levi turned around to see if it really was her and cried even more at the sight before him. She was there. It was her, the woman who saw everything he was and loved him anyway. The woman who had pledged to devote herself to him. In front of him was Petra Ral, his first and only love of his life. She looked every bit as perfect as she always was. There were two wings on her back, one white, one black. _The Wings of Freedom..._

"Thank you," she repeated, smiling. Petra wrapped her arms around Levi, a warm sensation filling his body to protect him from the cold and icy rain. He held her even tighter, as if she were to disappear if he didn't hold on to her.

"Heichou, don't keep all of your emotions locked up so much. It's okay to cry sometimes." He still couldn't believe she was here. She laughed, the same laugh that he tried so desperately to keep in his memory. "You're so stubborn, though. But I'll still love you no matter what." She kissed his forehead lovingly. "I've always had, Levi."

And with those words, Petra started to fade into nothing, leaving Levi alone in the desolate cemetery.

He stood up and frantically grabbed at the air around him in hopes of somehow being able to preserve her. "Come back..." he begged, looking everywhere. Realizing how foolish he looked, he collapsed on his knees, facing her tombstone. There was so much that he wanted to say to her. Did she see the ring that he was going to give her? Why did she decide to talk to him now of all times? _Where did she go?_

"Come back..." he repeated over and over again. "Come back..." There was no answer, but he kept on saying those two words for as long as he could. He sobbed, for the first time in years.

He didn't even get to tell her that he loved her.

* * *

><p><strong>Whelp. I needed to let out the feels from watching episode 22. By the way this is in the manga story, so that's why her body was able to be buried and all. I know Levi is pretty OOC in this, but I like to think that he lets out his emotions when other people don't see him. He's seems to be one of those people who looks emotionless but is actually deep person inside, doesn't he?<strong>

**Whether or not Petra was just a hallucination or a real spirit is up to you.**

**Anyway, I was wondering if I should make this a oneshot series, but I'm still not sure, so please tell me what you think~ Also, if you do want this to be a oneshot series, I'd appreciate it if you give me some prompts ^.^**

**Oh, and I do not own SnK and all that disclaimer stuff. Because if I did, Petra would still be alive  
><strong>

**Thanks for reading! Comment what you think about it! I'd love to hear from you~  
><strong>

**~Autumn**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, here's the latest one shot in the collection! Sorry it's so short (but why make a 3k word oneshot when you can make a 300 word one in 1% of that time?) Anyway enjoy!**

First Love Story

"Ugh... stupid brat, can't even clean an office to save his life," Levi grumbled. There were times when he questioned why he took the Yeager kid as an intern. He seemed fairly promising at first, fresh out of college, looking for a place in the world, he couldn't help but take some pity and accept him as an unpaid intern. But apparently a college degree didn't equal adequate intelligence anymore. More often than not, he would butt heads with Jean, the other new intern at the building. He had to admit, he did enjoy listening to Yeager's angry rants about him after particularly chaotic disagreements (apparently people call him "horseface" behind his back, and he had the hots for Mikasa Ackerman, the newly hired secretary).

"Mr. Ackerman?" a soft voice called through the opening in his office door. He forgot her name, but he recognized her as the blonde reporter who caught the eye of half the men (and probably even women, too) in the newsroom. He could already tell what she was going to say.

"Mr. Smith wants to see you and Mr. Yeager in his office."

* * *

><p>After a painstaking hour convincing Editor in Chief Erwin that this violent behavior from his intern will not happen again (for the sixth time this month), the young journalist packed his bag and left the office.<p>

Life was, in one word, slow for Levi Ackerman. Every day having to go to his office, browse through Hange's news findings (ranging from election results to ridiculous cat videos), and writing an article well-written enough to be published in the _Sina Papers_. Then get home, drink coffee, and watch Netflix for the rest of the day until he passed out, so tired that even the caffeine wouldn't help. Rinse, repeat for a year, and you got the monotonous life of a very bored twenty-four year old man. Perhaps he should be grateful that Erwin had managed to get him this job.

As of norm, he drove home, went into his one room apartment, made his coffee, and plopped down on his bed with his laptop. Unfortunately, his Netflix watching ritual had been thwarted by the lack of interesting shows on. Cursing, he shut his laptop and set his coffee mug down on the nightstand.

_Now what am I going to do?_ His eyes wandered to the old bookshelf at the corner of his room. _Why not?_

He browsed through the old books, mostly comprised of college textbooks from last year. As if he'd want to go through those again. A green hardcover book caught his eye- his high school yearbook. It seemed so long ago, those moments five years ago. Carefully extracting it from the shelf, he opened to book and turned to the page with his class photo.

He looked the same as he did now—a short boy whose face had a permanent scowl glued on. Some faces were barely recognizable, others whom Levi couldn't even recall being classmates with. Beside the class portrait was a collage of random students at school. He recognized his face in one of the photos, five other students around him. To his surprise, he saw that he was smiling at the camera, a small smile that reflected a content peace. His gaze fell on the girl who stood next to him in the photo. Her blue eyes sparkled with laughter, and her entire face radiated with joy. She had an arm wrapped around Levi's own, the other hand clutching a stack of books. He remembered her as soon as he saw her. _How couldn't I remember?_ he thought. _No one could forget Petra_.

* * *

><p>He didn't recall how they met. They had no classes together, and their only contact was via looking at each other at the halls. He vaguely remembered asking his friend Gunther about her.<p>

_"Hey, don't you have history with that girl?"__ he asked, pointing at the short blonde girl who just came out of the classroom.  
><em>

_"Who, Petra? Yeah, I do. Why did you ask?" Gunter asked._

_"Nothing, is there anything wrong with asking?" he dryly replied._

_"Aw... Levi likes someone, doesn't he?" His friend laughed._

_Levi then proceeded to beat up said friend until Mr. Pixis had broken up the fight and sent the two to detention._

At some point, they did start talking. She was somewhat shy, and at times she was put off by his bluntness. But she showed no sign of disliking him, probably because she was to polite to say so. She lived in the same direction as Levi, so they started walking home together as a result. Sometimes they would take the long way home so they could have more time to talk, and sometimes they would stop by at the park or library.

In retrospect, he realizes that he had been harsh to her at times, what with his antisocial attitude and his blunt manner of speaking. He was surprised she bothered to interact with him even then.

Senior year they had English together. He remembered one day someone decided to write "Levi + Petra" encircled in a heart on the board, and her bright red face when walking into the classroom that day, head bent down in embarrassment. Gunther and Oluo would also make it a hobby to pressure Levi into asking her out.

_"Didn't know Levi was capable of liking people, right, Gunther?" Oluo chuckled._

_"I know, right?" Gunther replied. "I thought the closest thing he could get to love was tolerance."_

_"Oh, the miracle of first love," Oluo taunted. "Love really does wonders."_

_"Oluo, I will end your life," an irritated Levi mumbled._

It's not like they haven't talked about it before. Just not as much as he wanted.

_"So, like anyone?" he asked Petra. They were both facing away from each other, him looking at the side and her facing the ground. They were sitting ten centimeters apart on the small bench at the park, late at sunset._

_"Um... yeah..." she murmured. She started rubbing her fingers against her skirt. "How about you?"_

_ "There's someone," he answered. He didn't say anything else._

_"I see," she said. They sat in silence, neither of the children able to say anything to break the awkwardness. _

_"Let's get home," he said. Not a word was exchanged on the way._

* * *

><p>If only he had been blunter like he always was. The one time when he wanted to be brutally honest... The irony of it all.<p>

He looked at the pictures again of her and him. He never noticed that they were together in most of the yearbook pictures. Photograph after photograph, he smiled.

"I guess you _were _my first love," he murmured to himself. In the twenty four years of her life, he had only been a small part to her. A simple childish happy memory. He couldn't help but wish that he had been a bigger part in her life. He wondered if he could have been with her longer if he had just confessed like the stupid teenager he was.

Levi sighed, putting the yearbook on his desk. Looking at the past, feeling nostalgic, it was childish of him to do such things. He turned off the lights and set himself in his bed.

"Goodbye, Petra."

**Oh dear, that writing quality... Anyway, sorry if it's confusing or disorganized, I wrote this in 15 minutes on a whim**

**Anyway I'm thinking of writing a sequel in Petra's POV, what do you guys think? Tell me in the reviews!**

**A cookie to whoever knows what I based the story and title off of (I'll give a hint: Vocaloid)**

**I am also still taking prompts, so if you want me to write anything, please tell me! Thanks for reading guys~**

**~Autumn**


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